Fatal bear attack list...

[JAK]

I wouldn't get too upset about such things. Blue Jay was likely being somewhat rhetorical. I think the main point he was making was to try and remain calm and rational,
which is always sound advice, whether armed, or otherwise.

Personally, I think people should learning and caring about bears
before learning and learning and caring so much about weapons.
Why not do both, but reasonably?

[4eyedbuzzard]

I wouldn't get too upset about such things. Blue Jay was likely being somewhat rhetorical. I think the main point he was making was to try and remain calm and rational,
which is always sound advice, whether armed, or otherwise.

Personally, I think people should learning and caring about bears
before learning and learning and caring so much about weapons.
Why not do both, but reasonably?

Way too rational.

[JAK]

Let me try that again.

I think people should show more interest in and learn more about bears
before learning caring so much about weapons.

But why not do both, but do it reasonably?

[JAK]

Way too rational.

Sorry about that. I forgot this was the WILDLIFE Forum.

[wilconow]

Here's an article about Black Bears in an Anchorage Newspaper

Aggressive black bears deserve to be eliminated

Make note of that last sentence. As has been observed elsewhere, bear spray will repel some of the bears all of the time, and all of the bears some of the time. But it won't repel all of the bears all of the time, which it is probably why it was a good thing the Park Service botanists had a gun.

Makes me think of a Dylan song!

[Blue Jay]

But don't believe for a minute that bears aren't dangerous. They are the apex predator in the woods, not you. Even if armed with spray or a firearm your best defense is to avoid turning the confrontation into an attack, because if a close distance attack occurs you'll have very little time to use either spray or a firearm, and hitting a target given the nature of an attack(PANIC!) isn't going to be easy.

Yawn...Seriously you need to stay hiding under your bed. The woods are much too scary for you.

[JAK]

Well I've opted for just a big stick and a small hatchet. More than last year.
We leave tomorrow night.

[JAK]

At least this year my wife will pick us up at the other end and drive us home so I won't be stupid enough to fall asleep at the wheel or hit a moose like I almost did last year. That's the real danger. Driving while stupid.

[tight-wad]

I saw in the Academy Sports checkout line a device that emits a focused, high pitched, loud sound. It was by the bear spray.

Would this be effective to deter bears? Seems to me it would be easier to "aim", i.e. you would not have to hit 'em in the eyes.

[take-a-knee]

Here's an article about Black Bears in an Anchorage Newspaper

Aggressive black bears deserve to be eliminated

Make note of that last sentence. As has been observed elsewhere, bear spray will repel some of the bears all of the time, and all of the bears some of the time. But it won't repel all of the bears all of the time, which it is probably why it was a good thing the Park Service botanists had a gun.

Makes me think of a Dylan song!

What is really a bite in the ass is you or I can't carry a 12 guage shotgun in Denali but the bureaucrats can, the government never obeys it own rules, rules are for the other people.

[Two Speed]

What is really a bite in the ass is you or I can't carry a 12 guage shotgun in Denali but the bureaucrats can, the government never obeys it own rules, rules are for the other people.

From the article: "In accordance with policy set forth in the park's Bear-Human Conflict Management Plan, one of the researchers made the decision to shoot the bear when it charged within 20 feet of the team and posed immediate hazard to human safety. The employee, who was qualified and authorized by the National Park Service to carry and use firearms in the park, hit the bear in its mid-section with a 12-gauge shotgun slug," McLaughlin wrote in a press release."

[minnesotasmith]

I saw in the Academy Sports checkout line a device that emits a focused, high pitched, loud sound. It was by the bear spray.

Would this be effective to deter bears? Seems to me it would be easier to "aim", i.e. you would not have to hit 'em in the eyes.

At least not one that you'd really need the help for.

My reasoning is given by something I read once about grizzlies in Alaska. Someone found a dead bear by a large yellow jacket nest in the ground. Now, you have to understand that bears are reputed to love yellow jacket larvae. This bear had attacked a YJ nest and had such a high pain tolerance that it had been able to ignore thousands of YJ stings and continue with digging up the YJ nest instead of fleeing (up until the point the accumulated poisons of all those stings killed it).

Do you really think that a moderately irritating noise is going to deter a bear whose "blood is up", when thousands of yellow jacket stings didn't repel one that was merely hungry? Me either...

[slow]

Well then, I guess I will go ahead and get my bear spray then....

Go figure, these are animals that can weigh up to 700 lbs, they can swat at you and crush your skull in a single blow, or bite down into you and cause sever bleeding. Don't think we would really stand a chance if one decided you were dinner.

But how often do black bears actually hunt deer or wild hogs? Does that ever happen?

Show me 1 400 lb FOUND on the AT ON CHART?They are KID'S to the west and A.K.

[Yahtzee]

At least not one that you'd really need the help for.

My reasoning is given by something I read once about grizzlies in Alaska. Someone found a dead bear by a large yellow jacket nest in the ground. Now, you have to understand that bears are reputed to love yellow jacket larvae. This bear had attacked a YJ nest and had such a high pain tolerance that it had been able to ignore thousands of YJ stings and continue with digging up the YJ nest instead of fleeing (up until the point the accumulated poisons of all those stings killed it).

Do you really think that a moderately irritating noise is going to deter a bear whose "blood is up", when thousands of yellow jacket stings didn't repel one that was merely hungry? Me either...

C'mon. Thousands of yellow jackets stings are a minor irritant compared to a sound wavelength "tuned in" to a pitch that disturbs an animal. Imagine if you were to have such a sound piercing your brain. It would be instantly debilitative.

I can't vouch for the quality or science behind any particular bear repellant but the concept is correct and would certainly offer more protection than bear spray.

[Ashepabst]

Show me 1 400 lb FOUND on the AT ON CHART?They are KID'S to the west and A.K.

there's nothing to suggest that black bears in the west are bigger than those in the east, is there? sure... there's more out west. i'm no expert here, but...? someone step in.

certainly large, 400lb+ bears are found in the east. just a quick google tells me about an 880lb bear in N.C.; a 615lb bear was taken in maryland last year; a 700lb+ bear in PA shot in '06; a 626lb bear shot in NY last year.

[slow]

there's nothing to suggest that black bears in the west are bigger than those in the east, is there? sure... there's more out west. i'm no expert here, but...? someone step in.

certainly large, 400lb+ bears are found in the east. just a quick google tells me about an 880lb bear in N.C.; a 615lb bear was taken in maryland last year; a 700lb+ bear in PA shot in '06; a 626lb bear shot in NY last year.

Any on the A.T.?

[ed bell]

Any on the A.T.?

NC, Maryland, NY and PA are in a close enough range. I'd say that if black bears that large are being found in the Eastern US then there is a good possibility that they would be in areas that the AT passes through. On the AT? Well, no, the examples cited were not "on the AT".

[russb]

Here's an article about Black Bears in an Anchorage Newspaper

Aggressive black bears deserve to be eliminated

Make note of that last sentence. As has been observed elsewhere, bear spray will repel some of the bears all of the time, and all of the bears some of the time. But it won't repel all of the bears all of the time, which it is probably why it was a good thing the Park Service botanists had a gun.

Makes me think of a Dylan song!

That would be Dylan's "Talking WWIII Blues".
the line you are thinking of is immediately followed by my favorite, "I'll let you be in my dream, if I can be in yours."


/end Dylan threadjack

[Ashepabst]

Any on the A.T.?

the obvious has already been pointed out: these are all AT states, yes.

are you suggesting that there's a subspecies of Mini-Blackies that confine themselves to the Appalachian Trail?

[Marta]

are you suggesting that there's a subspecies of Mini-Blackies that confine themselves to the Appalachian Trail?

Purist bears stay near the white blazes.